00:00 What does that say?
00:02 This is our house!
00:04 This is our house!
00:06 Melanie had just separated from her husband and moved to Houston with her kids to work as a respiratory therapist.
00:13 I was really in a dark place, I think. Really scared.
00:17 The whole drive was so ugly outside and then as soon as we started coming into the Montgomery County area,
00:23 it was just beautiful. The sun came out, the trees were just so gorgeous, it was just very green and lush.
00:31 I just knew it was a sign that everything was going to be okay.
00:37 But Melanie was barely making ends meet, so when she had the chance to triple her pay by temporarily working in New York during the pandemic,
00:46 she decided to go, leaving her kids with their grandparents.
00:50 I was terrified. I was so scared. I didn't know if I was going to see my kids again.
00:55 On my hotel room mirror, I had had sticky notes of all the bills that I had accumulated through my separation.
01:03 It was my motivation. I put myself in the mindset that I was just there to work and it was going to be worth it in the end.
01:10 I had this goal to buy my kids a house.
01:15 When my kids were really little, they did have a house and they did have a yard and a trampoline.
01:20 They had everything that they could have wanted when they were really, really little.
01:23 I just wanted that for them again and I just wanted them to have a safe place.
01:31 And eventually, when she came home in a better financial situation, she was able to give them that safe place.
01:39 I told my kids that we were going to go and surprise one of my friends.
01:46 As I'm driving up the foothills and I see all these beautiful trees and I'm coming into the community, I can see the lake in the background.
01:56 And then there's this little, the entryway has a little waterfall and the name of the community.
02:02 Oh my gosh, I just started crying because never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be able to even consider living in a place like this.
02:12 But now, they'd all be calling this place home.
02:17 Are we going to surprise her?
02:21 Huh? Yeah, we're going to surprise her.
02:23 Oh, Mom, look at this.
02:24 Huh?
02:25 We're going to surprise her?
02:27 Yeah.
02:28 But please be real quiet.
02:30 Mom, she has the same neck as you.
02:33 She has a what?
02:34 She has the same neck as me.
02:36 She has the same piano.
02:37 Oh, that's me.
02:38 Wait, this is all our stuff.
02:40 Mom, look at all that stuff.
02:41 What do you mean?
02:42 This is, she, we have this.
02:45 She took our piano.
02:46 We have this.
02:47 You have it?
02:48 Yeah.
02:49 No way.
02:50 You have the suitcase.
02:51 Wait, what?
02:52 You have the suitcase.
02:53 Come here.
02:54 Everything in here is ours.
02:55 No, it's not.
02:56 This is the same thing.
02:59 This, this, this, this, that.
03:02 What?
03:03 No, it's not.
03:05 No, we have this.
03:07 You are crazy.
03:08 Mom, look outside.
03:10 Can we go to the surprise house?
03:14 What?
03:15 Is she going to surprise us?
03:16 No.
03:17 Zap it.
03:18 Can we go jump on a trampoline?
03:23 Yeah.
03:24 Okay.
03:25 Can I use the zap?
03:26 Zap and Kyrie.
03:27 What does that say?
03:29 Zap and Kyrie.
03:30 This is our house.
03:31 This is our house.
03:32 This is our house.
03:33 That's when it got me.
03:34 Every time I watch that video, it gets to me because my son, my kids are amazing kids.
03:43 I have the best kids and my son has definitely been there, there a lot.
03:50 It was such a special moment and it ended up working out for us and I'm so grateful for it.
03:58 We hear trampolines.
03:59 That's our trampoline too, yeah.
04:01 Hurry, go check out your new room.
04:04 Why don't you guys all look at your rooms?
04:06 You're the best mom ever.
04:10 The kids, they see what you're doing.
04:12 At the end of the day, that's what's important.
04:14 They love to look at that video all the time and they know how hard I worked for them.
04:18 And I think that's what's important, that they know that you're doing your best for them.
04:22 This is the best day of my life.
04:25 I know.
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